Failing to found a School on his home island of Samos, Pythagoras-L migrated to the Greek colony of Crotona, on Italy's boot. Pythagoras-L's patron was aristocrat-warrior Milo, greatest athlete of antiquity (seven times winner of The Olympic Games). Milo's daughter, "the beautiful" Theano, married Pythagoras-L.

Crotona was a port for receving supplies from Aegean ships, to be land-transported to othe colonies. But the richest port was at Sybaris, which was a more natural port, making the Sybarites rich. In V. II, Life of Greece of his Story of Civilization, Will Durant says "... Sybaris prospered until it had (if we can believe Diodorus Siculus) 300,000 population and such wealth as few Greek cities could match. Sybarte became a synonym for [extravagant consumption]. All physical labor was performed by slaves or serfs while the citizens, dressed in costly robes, took their ease in luxurious homes and consumed exotic delicacies. Men whose work was noisy, such as carpenters and smiths, were forbidden to practice their craft within the confines of the city. Some of the roads [along which Sybarites were carried in chair-cars by slaves] in the richer districts were covered with awnings as protection against heat and rain. [Some of these roads had wells of wine.] .... Smyndyrides of Sybaris, visiting Sicyon to sue for the hand of Cleisthenes' daughter, brought with him a thousand servants."

Still the Sybarites were not satisfied and coveted the Croton port. The Crotons begged Pythagoras-L for help against the Sybarites.

Sybarite cavalrymen rode beautiful white horses which danced to a stone-flute melody. (Long before the beautiful white dancing Lippenzaner horses of Austria!)

Pythagoras-L made Sybaritic flutes for Croton infantrymen and taught them the Sybarite flute melody. When Sybarite cavalry attacked, Croton infantrymen piped flutes, causing Sybarite horses to dance out of control. All Sybarite cavalrymen were killed.

Then the Crotons committed atrocities, which had consequences down to our time -- among them (as described in a later file) the long delay of "The Industrial Revolution" and, consequently, the prolongation of slavery!

Marching north, Crotons killed all Sybarites. Burned all buildings. Sowed the ground with salt (as did Romans later at Carthage), so no crops could grow. (Further details in Durant.)

But a colony usually had a protective "sister colony". And the sister colony of Sybaris was Elea, which boasted the clever philosopher, Zenon, who had challenged Pythagorean arithmetic and geometry.

Eleatics now hated Pythagoreans politically.

After the forced suicide of Socrates, his pupil, Plato, fled proscription and found refuge among the Pythagoreans. Allowed back in Athens, Plato turned against the Pythagoreans and adopted the philosophy of The Eleatics.